SEIZE THE ROLE

“My character makes Willy Loman look like Andrew Carnegie.”

That’s how Robin Williams described his role in the PBS teleplay “Seize the Day,” Williams’ first completely straight dramatic role, to air this fall. Based on the Saul Bellow novella, it has Williams as the near-suicidal son of a businessman (Joseph Wiseman) who can’t cope with life.

“It’s like a Jewish Greek drama,” said Williams, whose character runs off to Hollywood to become an actor--and changes his name to sound less Jewish. Williams jumped at the opportunity: “It’s hard to find movies I want to do. . . . I’m usually third string behind Eddie (Murphy), Bill (Murray) or Steve (Martin) and sometimes Chevy (Chase). Much of it isn’t for me.”